This new seriousness
became more severe
with the rise of
Neoclassicism
, a movement for
which purity and
simplicity were
essential components
of the systematic
depiction of
edifying stories
from the classical
authors. Roman
history and legends
were the most
popular subjects,
and though
Jacques-Louis
David
(1748-1825), a pupil
of an earlier
exponent of
Neoclassicism, J.-M.
Vien, conformed to
that to a certain
extent, he was
different in that he
was also keenly
sensitive to the
changing mood and
philosophies of his
time and to the
reaction against
frivolity and
self-indulgence.
Many of his
paintings are
reflections of
republican ideals
and of contemporary
history, from the
Death
of Marat to
events from the life
of Napoléon, who
was his patron. For
the emperor and his
family, David
painted some of his
most successful
portraits -
Madame
Recamier is not
only an exquisite
example of David's
controlled use of
shapes and space and
his debt to antique
Rome, but can also
be seen as a
paradigm of
Neoclassicism.
Two painters, Jean-Antoine
Gros (1771-1835)
and Baron Gérard
(1770-1837),
followed David
closely in style and
in themes
(portraits,
Napoleonic history
and legend), but
often with a touch
of softness and
heroic poetry that
pointed the way to
Romanticism.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres (1780-
1867) was a pupil of
David; he also
studied in Rome
before coming back
to Paris to develop
the purity of line
that was the
essential and
characteristic
element of his art.
His effective use of
it to build up forms
and bind
compositions can be
admired in
conjunction with his
recurrent theme of
female nudes
bathing, or in his
magnificent and
stately portraits
that depict the
nuances of social
status.
